Currently there are few options available should one want to access electronic files from a remote location. While one may store their electronic documents on a public or private server at a remote location, this method has significant drawbacks. Should the server ever crash, files may become corrupted, deleted, or in the best case scenario, temporarily unavailable. Further, remote data storage on a third-party server is costly, potentially subjecting one to fees or unwanted advertisements. Most worrisome, however, is that the storage of files on a remote server may pose security risks.
An alternative method to remote data storage on a third-party server is the utilization of a peer-to-peer communication session to access documents from a remote location. However, current methods for the initialization of a peer-to-peer communication session between electronic devices on local area networks separated by a wide area network are limited. If one were on a local area network separated from the internet by a network address translator, commonly referred to as a NAT, their device would not be detectible to devices on the wide area network. As such, in order to initiate a peer-to-peer communication session between a first and a second communication device on local area networks separated by a wide area network, one must either leave a port in their network address translator permanently open for incoming communication transmissions, place their files in an unsecured location, or utilize a relay server to route the data to its intended destination, thereby not initializing a peer-to-peer communication session at all.
These alternatives, however, have significant drawbacks. The best current option for the initialization of a peer-to-peer communication session between electronic devices, leaving a port permanently open in a network address translator, creates high security risks for devices on the local area network. Permanently opened ports create high risks of a security breach in the local area network, allowing unwanted or unauthorized communication through the network address translator, increasing the risk that data or system performance may be compromised by third party devices or programs, such as viruses, worms, or spy ware.
Furthermore, the utilization of a relay server to transfer data from a first communication device to a second communication device also creates high risks of data exposure to harmful third parties and other breaches of confidentiality. Should the relay server store or copy data, or should the relay server allow a third party to listen in on the relayed data, the data may be compromised. Moreover, utilization of a relay server imposes additional bandwidth costs. As such, there is a need for a method and system for establishing a peer-to-peer communication session between a first and a second communication device on local area networks separated by the wide area network that does not create the risks of the current methods.
Current methods of file sharing between devices on local area networks separated by a wide area network, such as the internet, are limited. There is a need in the art for an apparatus and method for establishing a peer-to-peer communication session between electronic devices over a wide area network. Specifically, there is a need for a device that facilitates a direct peer-to-peer communication session between a first and a second communication device on different local area networks separated by the wide area network. It is to these ends that the present invention has been developed.